Womentorz® is a marketplace and community of Women inventors and entrepreneurs with amazing products who have come together to provide a supportive environment to bring their inventions to market. We use the concept of group marketing to give members opportunities that would normally be too expensive for their marketing budgets. By using the Womentorz® members are able to make more of a profit. There’s power in numbers and by the women inventors coming together to promote their products more marketing opportunities come to the group.

How many years and how many people has your social enterprise helped?

Womentorz has been around for about two years. We have about 100 women currently on the site, but we also have a huge following of women inventors online who don’t realize that it’s free to be part of the group. They follow us because we provide a plethora of information that helps their business. Many of the products and inventors have been given either license or media opportunities because they were found on Womentorz. That’s the entire concept of Womentorz.

What are some of the unique marketing opportunities you provide to save your members money?

Most of our marketing services utilize group marketing to the fullest. Whether it’s getting your product to a celebrity, a TV media opportunity, magazine advertisement or tradeshow booth, by coming together as a group under the Womentorz umbrella saves the members money by distributing the cost.

We’ve also teamed up with Mulberry Street Market Intel providing access to agency public relations and marketing services, with even more free publicity, group marketing rates, and exclusive opportunities to network, learn how to promote your business, and get the exposure that you need to thrive.

Why was this social venture created?

I had attended a casting call looking for women inventors in Chicago. While I was in line with my little invention I met so many amazing women with incredible inventions. The common problem across the board for all of them was marketing their product and being found by the consumer.

I had grown up in the wine industry and saw how California and Washington wines came together as an entire industry to promote their state’s wines overall. I saw the power of unity and group marketing and saw the need for this in the women inventor industry. I knew I wasn’t going to get my product chosen with so many amazing women, but felt I had come up with a much better idea from attending the casting call. I began building Womentorz immediately upon returning.

Melinda Knight

How does an inventor get on your site and what is the cost?

First of all, the inventor must be a woman. We are by no means anti male….love them and support them on other platforms. Because we’re a social network that emotionally supports the different stages the women go through bringing a product to market there’s a certain way we all communication that wouldn’t appeal to men. The second criteria would be that you have a product that you’ve developed. It doesn’t have to be a life changing, one of a kind product, but it does have to be something you’ve created. It also shouldn’t conflict ethically with other members of the group. We do let like products come on the site, but if there is a history of unethical behavior brought to my attention by a member we may ask the inventor to not post their product. This is on a case by case basis and rarely comes up.
The site can be used to get market research and feedback prior to getting your product manufactured. This is an important tool that saves the women a ton of money. Knowing what the public wants is critical to the success of your product.

The great thing about Womentorz is that it’s FREE. That’s right…it’s FREE. The great product pages you see within the “Store” don’t cost the women a thing. The more women and products we have on the site the more marketing opportunities come our way. The women who want to be on the site simply go under the “Inventor” tab and register themselves as an inventor. Then they add a product to build their product page. It’s a very easy process.

Do you tweet, facebook fan page, myspace friend or use any other social media to get the word out?

Mistakes aren’t necessarily a bad thing because you usually learn the most from them. Many of the mistakes I’ve made have cost my family a lot of money. It’s important to find ways to make up for mistakes and not give up.

What is the one thing that you did right?

I invested heavily in SEM, which is a beefed up SEO, to get our website found and stay on the top pages of Google. I have the site actively maintained to have a strong presence online, so our community receives a lot of visitors. This is an investment that directly benefits all of the inventors on the site because their websites are all linked to Womentorz.

What was the biggest transition you had to make?

I was already organized when I started Womentorz, but with the growth of the business over the past two years I’ve had to become ultra organized….almost on an obsessive level. With the amount of emails I receive and the demand over the social media outlets there’s never a day to sleep in. Many of the people I deal with are on the east coast, so I usually get up at 4:00 AM PT to keep up. Being a Mom is my most important job, so it’s imperative to balance Womentorz with my mommy responsibilities.

One Response to “Using Power in Numbers to Promote Products”

Melinda is truly dedicated to helping inventors reach their full potential by offering many necessary services as well as being incredibly generous with her personal time. Through WOMENTORZ she has created a great website to showcase products and to network with many opportunities.